PEN Canada envisions a world where writers are free to write, readers are free to read, and freedom of expression prevails.
PEN Canada is a nonpartisan organization of writers that works with others to defend freedom of expression as a basic human right, at home and abroad. PEN Canada promotes literature, fights censorship, helps free persecuted writers from prison, and assists writers living in exile in Canada.
EN Canada works on behalf of writers, at home and abroad, who have been forced into silence for writing the truth as they see it.
The writers we support face a variety of dangers. They are surrounded by conflict, imprisoned or detained, intimidated by governments or criminal gangs, or forced to live in foreign countries as exiles or refugees. There are also Canadian writers within our borders who are the target of censorship.
PEN Canada addresses these diverse challenges with four programs:
These initiatives are designed to support, Canadian writers who battle judicial and other attacks on their writing; writers living in exile, silenced in their native land, but whose voices must be heard; and writers and journalists overseas who languish in jail for peacefully practicing their right to freedom of expression.
